Copyholder



Dec. 9, 1952 R. G. LEWIS 2,620,771

COPYHOLDER Filed Jan. 11, 1951 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 24 ,20 ,22 ,us FIG-3 INVENTOR. \@f 25 ROBERT s. LEWIS ATTORNEY R. G. LEWIS Dec. 9, 1952 COPYHOLDER 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 Filed Jan. 11 1951 FIG.4

INVENTOR. ROBERT G. LEWIS ATTORNEY Patented Dec. 9, 1952 CO Y JD B.

'Ir be t -"L w s a l N; assi nor 9 Ralph E. Bitner, Manhasset, N; Y.

. Appl i n J n ry .51,. Serial No.1 2.0 .55?

6 Claims. 1

Thisinvention relates to supporting structures forholding manuscript or typewritten sheets and for moving such'sheets, a lineat a time, intoa reading position.

The inventionis designed for use. by typists who transcribe written or printed characters by means of atypewriter. For such an application the copy holder should be small, light, and capable of being quickly placed at a. convenient position nearthe typewriter by' the operator.

The present invention employs a scroll compartment for storing unused portions of the paper. A rotatable shaft carrying two cylindrical rubber rollers in resilient contact witha flat plate is employed to draw the paper sheetfrom the scroll compartment. The shaft is turned by predetermined increments so that after each, shaft rotation anew line of charactervis visible above a horizontalguide. 'In orderto equalize the pressure on thetwo rubber rollers and to compensate forinequalities in thepaper thickness the flat plate is pressed against the rollers by means of a spring having asingle contact point, thereby allowing the plate to rotate about a central verticalaxis.

One prior art copy holder, designed along somewhat similarlines, employs ,a double roller, pivoted at the central portionot the shaft to afford the same means of compensation. Sucha mode of compensation has inherent structural disadvantages because the rollersfimust be power driven at the same time'they conform to the movements .which. provide the equalizing action.

One of the objects of this invention is toprovide an, improved copyjholderwhich avoids one ormore of thedisadvantaeesandlimitations of DliOfifil l ll (3 .1 8 2 Another object of the invention is to reduce the cost of manufacture of copy holdersby providing a. simmeuesi n, t e .na-r so wh ch .may Joe-easily assembled.

Another object of the, inventionis to provide ,a.c.0.py,..holderv .of triangular cross sectionsuitable or sup tinea s noeraphi ote book- .Anoth robi o einvention i toprovide an adjustable interponent for varying the incremental movement of the paper.

'Theinvention comprises, acopy holder formoving paper into areadingposition, and includes a an rstoraee compartment, a r t a le. pap ieed member forfrictional engagement with one sidenof the ,paperyand a flat plate .for sliding engagement with the other side of-the paper. The flatplate is resiliently mountedsoas to press againstuthe rubber rollers in a pressure equalizing manner but is restrained from sidewise and vertical; motion. A manually operated lever'mechanism actuates the paper feed member to -move thepaper,a predetermined distance so that another line otcharacters is visible above a guide member.

Eora better understanding ofthe present invention, together with other and further objects thereof, reference is made tothe followingdescription taken in connection with the accome panying drawings.

.Fi 1 is atsideyiew of the copy holder, showing theposition of the paper,.indicated Joya dotted line.

.Fig. 2-is asectionalview taken alonglineZ-Z of Fig..1

Fig.3 is a sectional view showing the flat plate, partof theresilient member, and the upper end .ofthe scroll storage compartment.

Fig.4. is .afront .view of the copyholder.

Fig. .5 isa .sectionalyiew of the paper feeding meansshowing ,the ratchet. mechanism a-nd the normal position of the hat pressure plate.

,Fig. ,6 a sectional .view of the .lower portion ofthe. cQpyholder showing the actuating levers in their. operated position.

Fig. '7 is a partial bottom View of the copy holder showing the .stepped interponent used for adjusting the degree of the paper movement.

Referring now to the figures, a asdplate it), formed with two bent-over portions supperts a back plate H ,anda front plate I2. These plates are riveted orspot welded-to thebase it by means 01' bentportions l3 and I4. Near the top-edgeof back plate II, a bracket [-5 is securedwhich rotatably supports a shaft IS. The shaft is has secured thereon two rubberrollers ll L8, and a ratchet wheel 20. The-ratchet-wheelis positioned about midway between twoend bearn andis e a ed bye ta io arypa l'z L la movable paw 2- he t na y pawl;2.l;is:s u d. t e ack plate H b ashcu er-rivet. 2.3 which also acts as one of the guides forthe ,Inoyab e w T em ab a is orme w th a-slot 24,;the up r dg f whic enga e -th teeth on-ratchet wheel 20 and turnsthe p per feeding member when the movable pawl pulled down. The movable pawl 122 extenflsalongathe insidecsurtace of the-back plate l-I- to aipoint near the base; plate II] where it is-coupledfto a lever 25. The movable pawlis resiliently; urged toward it p ri o on bra emf-mete which isatiafihsdfitone of t endsfioahen wu tab 21 andat. the .other-end-rtetbe lower eirtremityof the stationarypawl 2|.

Lever 25 extends through a slot 28 in the base plate to make a pivoted connection with a second actuating lever 30 and then extends back through the same slot to rest on a fulcrum point near the front of the holder. A projection 25A extends through a second slot and holds the lever in place. The second lever 30 is fulcrumed by a projection 30A in a hole 3| in the base plate near the rear of the holder and extends through a slot in the base plate l0, then through a slot 32 in the front plate [2, and is terminated by a handle 33 in front of the copy holder and in easy reach of the operator. The two levers 25, 30 are held in pivoted engagement by a short shaft 34. Fig. 6 shows the position of the levers when the handle 33 is depressed to its lowest position. Fig. 1 shows the position of the levers after they have been returned to normal by the action of spring 26.

A scroll storage compartment 40 occupies most of the space between the front and back plates l2 and II. It is secured by rivets M or other suitable fastening means to the inside face of front plate l2 and is formed with a smooth spiral section so as to receive a paper sheet 42 (indicated in dotted lines) and roll it into the compartment with a minimum of friction. The scroll compartment contains a slot 43 at its upper end so that a pressure plate 44 may be pivotally mounted by means of an extension 44A which is loosely secured by a shoulder rivet 45.

The pressure plate 44 is resiliently pressed against the two rubber rollers I1, I 8 by means of a flat spring 46 which is secured by two rivets at its lower end and is formed with a slot 41 at its upper end. The slot engages a shoulder rivet 48 in slidable engagement so that the plate 44 is resiliently pressed against the rollers l1, [8, but is restrained from lateral movement. The single pivot at rivet 45 is loose enough to permit the plate 44 to have a freedom of motion toward and away from the rollers and also a motion about a vertical axis through the center of the plate. At the same time the construction prohibits a vertical motion so that the top edge always engages the rubber rollers at the tangential line.

In order to provide a straight edge which will cover the entire width of a standard sized letter sheet, a removable guide 50 is mounted on the outside face of plate 44 by means of two shoulder rivets which fit into two slots in the guide. A curved up portion 52 is provided to act as a convenient handle to pull the plate 44 away from the rollers when a sheet of paper is to be inserted. When paper sheets are used which are considerably wider than the standard size, a wider guide can be substituted for the standard.

The paper feeding means is generally arranged to move the paper in increments which are equal to a double or triple line spacing on a standard typewriter. When it is desired to move the paper in smaller increments, an interponent 55, mounted on the bottom of the base plate In, is rotated on a pivot 56 so that a stepped portion 51 moves above the lever 30 and limits its motion. The steps are formed on a turned over portion of an arcuate projection and are generally made in closely graduated heights so that the operator has considerable latitude in making incremental adjustments. A turned over portion 58 is provided to facilitate manual setting.

To operate the copy holder, the typist first pulls handle 52 toward the front of the machine, separating the plate 44 from the rubber rollers l1, [8. Then the typewritten sheet or manuscript is in- 4 serted between the rollers and the plate and pushed into the scroll storage compartment. Handle 52 is released after the paper sheet has been positioned to show a line of characters just above the upper edge of guide 50. The first line is then copied after which the second line is brought into view by manually depressing handle 33. It will be evident from Figs. 1 and 5 that all the lines on the inserted sheet can be made to show above the edge of the guide 50, including the last line on the paper.

While there have been described and illustrated specific embodiments of the invention, it will be obvious that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the field of the invention which should be limited only by the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A copy holder for moving a paper sheet into a reading position comprising, a base plate, front and back plates secured to the base plate, a paper feed mechanism including a rotatable roller mounted on the back plate for frictional engagement with one side of the paper, a movable flat plate for sliding engagement with the other side of the paper, the movable plate formed with a projection which extends downwardly to a point near the base plate, the lower portion of the projection mounted on the front plate by a loose pivot connection, thereby giving the movable plate two degrees of motion, and a fiat spring for resiliently stressing the top portion of the movable plate toward the roller, the spring having its lower end secured to the front plate and having its upper end slidably engaging the top portion of the movable plate.

2. A copy holder for moving a paper sheet into a reading position comprising, a base plate, front and back plates secured to the base plate, a paper feed mechanism including a rotatable roller mounted on the back plate for frictional engagement with one side of the paper, a movable flat plate for sliding engagement with the other side of the paper, the movable plate formed with a projection which extends downwardly to a point near the base plate, the lower portion of the projection mounted on the front plate by a loose pivot connection, thereby giving the movable plate two degrees of motion, a fiat spring for resiliently stressing the top portion of the movable plate toward the roller, the spring having its lower end secured to the front plate and having its upper end slidably engaging the top portion of the movable plate, and a manually operable lever means for actuating the paper feed mechanism to move the paper a predetermined distance so that another line of characters is visible above a guide memher.

3. A copy holder for moving a paper sheet into a reading position comprising, a base plate, front and back plates secured to the base plate, a scroll storage compartment for the paper sheet positioned between the front and back plates, a paper feed mechanism including a rotatable roller mounted on the back plate for frictional engagement with one side of the paper, a movable fiat plate formed with a projection which extends downwardly to a point near the base plate, the lower portion of the projection mounted on the front plate by a loose pivotal connection, and a flat spring for resiliently stressing the top portion of the movable plate toward the roller, the spring having its lower end secured to the front plate and having its upper end slidably engaging the top portion of the movable plate thereby permitting the movable plate to move about a vertical axis as well as a horizontal axis.

4. A copy holder for moving a paper sheet into a reading position comprising, a base plate, front and back plates secured to the base plate, a scroll storage compartment for the paper sheet positioned between the front and back plates, a paper feed mechanism including a rotatable roller mounted on the back plate for frictional engagement with one side of the paper, a movable fiat plate formed with a projection which extends downwardly to a point near the base plate, the lower portion of the projection mounted on the front plate by a loose pivotal connection, and a fiat spring for resiliently stressing the top portion of the movable plate toward the roller, the spring having its lower end secured to the front plate and having its upper end coupled to the top portion of the movable plate by a pin and slot connection thereby permitting the movable plate to turn about a vertical axis but restricting its motion parallel to the axis of the roller.

5. A copy holder for moving a paper sheet into a reading position comprising, a base plate, front and back plates secured to the base plate, a paper feeding mechanism including a roller mounted on the back plate for frictional engagement with one side of the paper, and a movable flat plate for sliding engagement with the other side of the paper, the movable plate pivotally mounted so as to permit motion around an axis which is parallel to the length of the front plate, said movable plate resiliently stressed toward the roller by a flat spring which slidably engages the movable plate at a point adjacent to its upper edge.

6. A copy holder for moving a paper sheet into a reading position comprising; a base plate; front and back plates secured to the base plate; a paper feed mechanism including a rotatable roller mounted on the back plate for frictional engagement with one side of the paper; a movable flat plate for sliding engagement with the other side of the paper, the movable plate pivotally mounted so as to permit motion around an axis which is parallel to the length of the front plate, said movable plate resiliently stressed toward the roller; and a flat spring, the lower end of which is secured to the front plate and the upper end of which slidably engages the movable plate at a point adjacent to its upper edge.

ROBERT G. LEWIS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,568,552 Grabler Jan. 5, 1926 1,931,767 Malcolm Oct. 24, 1933 2,162,706 Dodds June 20, 1939 2,170,161 Sattler Aug. 22, 1939 2,369,241 Kobler Feb. 13, 1945 2,586,059 Koeppel Feb. 19, 1952 OTHER REFERENCES Bite-Line Copyholder, distributed by the Rite- Line Corp, 1129 Vermont Ave. N. W., Washington, D. C. 

